Searching For a Sweet Surrender
by edwardcullen665
Summary: Leaving Forks, Washington was the easiest thing Alice, and Bella have ever done. Alice moved away to California following her dreams of attending Stanford University. Bella moved away to New York following a man she claimed to love. Three years later, they're back in Forks for the summer. Time changes everyone. (AH. B/E, A/J, Em/R)
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: All characters belong to Miss Stephanie Myers. I am only borrowing them.**_

"Bella!" Alice shrieked running into my arms. Alice is my best friend, and has been ever since we were kids. Alice and I were living proof that you don't have to see your friends every singly day to remain friends. We haven't seen each other in three years. After high school, we each had different plans. She went to college in California chasing after her own dreams, while I followed a boy across the world. New york, to be exact.

"Alice!" I shrieked dropping my bags on the ground and throwing my arms around her. The last time I saw her, her black hair fell down to her waist, she looked like a pole, she stood 5'0 tall, and she never dressed up. I guess you could say she – we – were late bloomers.

Looking at her now I didn't see the girl I knew three years ago, I saw stranger. Her once long black hair was now short, and spiky. Unbelievingly enough, she pulled it off. She was no longer a pole; she finally got boobs, maybe not a C cup, but at least a B cup. She was also taller; although that part had more to do with the heels she was wearing.

"You look so different," Alice announced looking me up and down. I suppose I look just as different to Alice as she does to me. My once shoulder length brown hair now fell to my waist, and it was no longer a curly, frizzy mess. I finally figured out the beauty of hair product. I no longer had braces, I finally figured out the wonders make-up could work, and I no longer dressed in over sized clothes. I'm a much different person than she remembers.

Being the friends that we are, we talked at least once a week on the phone, for a minimum of one hour. We talked about everything, from boys to finals. While we didn't see each other every single day we still remained best friends. In reality, no one could ever take Alice's place. She's been with me through thick and thin; she's my ride or die.

"I could say the same for you," I said, running my fingers through her short black hair. "You cut it all off!" I mocked horror. Alice gave a bright smile.

"It's too hot in Cali for long hair. I was dying. Besides, I think I pull off the short look pretty well." She ran her fingers through her hair fixing it. "It is weird to run my fingers through it when nothing is there though." She admitted. "I wanted to surprise you." She explained why she hadn't told me about the cut.

"I thought about dying my hair blond. Almost did it to." Alice scrunched her nose up in disgust. She always thought my hair was a beautiful shade of _hazelnut. _Yes, hazelnut.

"Never die your hair. I will murder you." She linked her arm through mine.

"Where's mom?" I questioned talking about Esme. Strictly speaking, Esme was her mother, not mine. However, when your own mother ditches out on you when you're 13, and your best friend mother steps in as the mom role she becomes your mom. Esme helped me through my first heartbreak, encouraged me to follow my heart, even if my heart was telling me to follow boy around the world, she told me no matter what, I had place to come home. She also let me know I wasn't dying when I got my first period. Charlie, my dad, is great. For some things you just need a mom. Thankfully, he understood that.

"Inside," Alice informed me dragging me into the house. "We'll get those," she pointed to the bags on the ground, "in a minute. Carlisle, the new step dad, isn't bad. In fact he's a lot better than my own father. He's caring, funny, loving, and most importantly he makes mom happy. He has a son, like I told you. He's pretty spoiled, but well mannered. Emmett's friends are with us for the summer as well," Alice explained to me. There was a lot I missed out on in the three years I had been absent from home. Esme got remarried; I was invited to the wedding, but didn't go. I thought Esme was going to disown me, but she told me, with finals coming up I needed to focus on school. There was more to the story I just couldn't bring myself to tell her why I couldn't come home.

"I thought I heard you," Esme announced wrapping her arms around me. As always, she was wearing an apron covered in flower. Most of my memories with Esme are in the kitchen. "Let me look at you," she said pulling away from me. Her eyes roamed over my body before she gave a light smile. "Beautiful. You were always beautiful though." She wrapped her arms around my waist. "How is New York?" She questioned immediately walking Alice and I into a living room full of people.

"It's New York," I said with a slight smile. Esme rolled her eyes motioning for me to spill every detail that she'd missed out on.

"Boy's college, give us something here, Bella," Alice lectured with a slight wink. Alice already knew almost everything about New York. She knew how much I'd grown to hate it, but also how much I loved it at the same time.

"I'll spill later. You spill first," I said deflecting the conversation from me.

"Oh! Introductions," Alice announced smacking the palm of her hand to her forehead. It sounded like it hurt, at least somewhat. "You know Emmett already," she said as the big teddy bear like man, who happened to be Alice's brother, got to his feet. If I didn't know Emmett so well he would have been the kind of man I would be afraid of. He was tall, muscular, and looked like he could toss you across the room with the lift of one finger. For Christ's sake, the boy's muscles had muscles.

"You got hot," he said before pulling me into a bear hug.

"Can't. Breath." I patted him on the back. He gave a low chuckle before letting me go. "Were you implying I wasn't hot before?" I joked licking my lips. Emmett shook his head giving a booming laugh that seemed to echo through the house.

"You were kind of cute. You know, in that nerdy Ugly Betty kind of way." I smacked him lightly in the chest.

"Such a confidence booster," I muttered.

"This is Rosalie," Alice announced pointing to the gorgeous blonde. Her long blond hair fell into perfect ringlets, and even sitting down I could tell she had a beyond perfect figure. She belonged on the runway, not in some small town no one even knew of.

"Hey," she said nodding her head.

"This is Jasper. They're twins, how cool is that?" Alice gushed. "They're Emmett's friends from college and wanted a get away." I looked from Jasper to Rosalie noticing just how much they looked alike. You could tell they were related, they shared the same intense ice blue eyes, and the same color of blond hair.

"Where's Carlisle and Edward?" I questioned, remembering Alice had told me they would be here.

"They're meeting us at the restaurant. Carlisle had to pick up Edward from the airport," Alice explained with a smile. "Emmett, help us lug Bella's stuff into my room so all us ladies can go get ready together." Alice pulled Emmett out to my car, which was older than I was. I was honestly surprised it didn't break down on my way here.

"I think this is worse than that God awful truck," Emmett muttered grabbing the two heaviest bags from the trunk. Alice and I grabbed the two bags I'd dropped in the dirt.

"Don't diss the car. She might hear you," I whispered lightly kicking him. "So, is the dinner fancy? Alice didn't tell me much about Carlisle, or Edward," I explained grabbing the last two bags.

"Carlisle seems cool. He's rich, some kind of big shot doctor. He knocked some chick up in high school, did the respectable thing and married her. About five years later he caught the chick cheating and that was that. Edward spent the school year with his mother, and summer with Carlisle until he was fifteen. When he was fifteen he decided to stay with Carlisle full time, and go see his mother when he could. I've met the dude once, at the wedding, but if you ask me he's spoiled rotten. Anything he want's, he gets," Emmett explained. Normally Alice was the one for gossip, but she didn't exactly gossip about her mom's lovers, or in this case, husband.

"So, normal rich boy," I said with a smile. Emmett dropped the two bags upstairs with Alice and gave Rosalie a smile.

"You ladies don't have too much fun without me." Emmett winked at us.

"Get out perv," Alice, Rosalie, and I said at the same time.

"Fancy dinner?" I questioned Alice, opening the first suitcase. She only shook her head hovering over my suitcase lifting up the dresses.

"Not overly fancy," she explained scanning the dresses in the suitcase. "Wear this," she handed me the only black dress I owned. "It should stop just above you're knee, it's open back, but classy. It'll make a good impression." I wondered off into the bathroom slipping out of my road trip clothes and into dinner clothes.

"So, have you decided what you're doing yet?" Alice questioned as soon as I got out of the bathroom. She was referring to the conversation we had on the phone last night. I told her New York wasn't where I wanted to be. I was too far away from everyone I loved. I wanted to come home, I wanted to switch schools, and I no longer wanted to be stuck in a place I hate. "I think you should transfer to Cali with me. We could do our senior year together, graduate together, everything like that," she gushed. Originally it had been our plan to go to college together. Looking back now, I wish I had stuck with that plan. Following a boy was the worst mistake I've ever made.

"I'm thinking about it. Truth be told, I can't afford New York. Everything's so expensive." Alice shook her head in understanding. Rosalie, Alice, and I stood in Alice's room utilizing her mirror to do our hair, and make up. Rosalie took her time fixing her make up, and touching up her curls. Alice redid her hair completely, and applied her normal, every day make up. I took my hair out of my bun, and curled it to perfection, applying minimal make up.

"Emmett told us a lot about you," Rosalie announced applying red lipstick. "He said you were like a sister to him." She handed me the tube. "You don't seem anything like the girl he described though?"

"How did he describe me?" I was honestly curious as to how Emmett described me to people who didn't even know me.

"He said you were shy, awkward, sickly sweet, and that you and Alice were both different than most of the sluts around here." She looked me up and down. "The lipstick is for you. Trust me, it's going to kill everyone," she explained watching as I applied it.

"And what do you think?" I found myself questioning her. I couldn't get a clear read on Rosalie. She seemed nice enough, but she didn't seem like the kind of girl that had a lot of other girl friends.

"I think you've changed. You don't seem overly shy, or that awkward. You seem like just another girl trying to figure out who she is. I haven't really figured out what I think of you just yet." She admitted.

"Girls, let's go!" I heard Esme yell. I grabbed the black heels that went with the dress running down the stairs. Esme knew me all to well. "You're wearing heels?" She snickered shaking her head back and forth. "At least a doctors in the house if you decide to plummet down my stairs again." Emmett gave a chuckle at the memory.

"Do you remember that?" He boomed glancing down at the rocks then to my bare feet. Without another word he tossed me over his shoulders carrying me across the rocks.

"What happened?" Jasper and Rosalie piped up as he tossed me in the jeep. Esme took the passenger seat, Alice, Rosalie, Jasper and I all sat tin the backseat. The jeep sat five comfortably, and it fits six when you were jam-packed.

"Ok, so Alice, Bella, and I were wrestling. Well, I should say Alice and Bella are trying to jump be, so I got a little rough. Alice was on my back punching me, Bella was hitting my chest, and they were trying to prove how self-sufficient they were. They were trying to get Esme to let them go into town alone, in the middle of the night. Only problem with this is that we were right next to the staircase, and I moved as Bella hit my chest, and she somehow ended up taking a tumble down the stairs. Now mind you, Bella is the biggest klutz in the world, so falling isn't a new thing for her. Alice and I run down the stairs watching her body slowly turn purple, and this bitch lets out a laugh," he rolled his eyes at me helping everyone out of the Jeep. In reality we could have just taken a shot stroll down the street to get here. The newest restaurant to grace Forks, Washington. "A fucking laugh, right?" He said as the hostess escorted us to the booth that already had two people sitting at it.

"Language!" Esme snapped, glaring at him. She hated it when he used foul language.

"Sorry," he said sliding into the booth. "So anyways, she laughs and get's up, like she didn't just fall down a flight of stairs and says _look who isn__'__t so tough now, Em. Let__'__s see you fall down those stairs and not cry like a little bitch.__"_Emmett finished the story making Alice chuckle, while Rosalie and Jasper both gave loud laughs.

"Smooth," Rosalie got out between laughs.

"There are much worse stories," Emmett informed them. I gave a light blush; Esme only cleared her throat calling our attention to the other two people at the booth.

"Bella, this is Carlisle, and Edward," she said pointing to the two men. I was drawn to the younger man with the emerald eyes. There was something about him that seemed to pull me in. Something about him that made me want to get to know him, an unfamiliar feeling for me. Usually, for me, there isn't an instant pull to anyone because I never measure anything by your appearance. This man though, was devastatingly handsome. His eye's seemed to look into your soul, his unruly bronze hair looked uncombed. He looked dangerous.

"Hey," Edward said nodding his head. Apparently I was staring.

"You got Bella blushing, Eddie," Emmett teased. Edward glared at the name Emmett had used but he didn't comment.

"We all know I blush when someone so much as looks in my direction," I said right back making Emmett lick his lips. That was never a good sign, when Emmett's lips twitching up in a smile accompanied it.

"Do you want to see Bella go cherry red?" He questioned. Alice gave a bell like laugh, but no one said anything.

"Don't you dare," I warned trying to look and sound threatening.

"Hey Bella,"

"Emmett," I warned. All eyes were on the two of us, most of them curious.

"I learned how to drive a stick shift the other day," I bit my bottom lip. "It's pretty easy once you get past first gear. You always said you wanted to learn to drive a stick, I'm more than willing to teach you how to drive my stick, if you want." That was all it took, my face turned beat red.

"You know, it took me three years but I've finally got a comeback." Alice clapped her hands together, and Emmett leaned forward motioning for me to bring it. "Your stick isn't worth my time." Emmett shook his head as if he were approving.

"Oh!" Alice shrieked patting my back. "Burn!" She was in a fit of giggles.

"Enough," Esme said looking at the two of us.

"Sorry," we both apologized immediately. The rest of dinner passed quietly enough. There was talk about how for once, every single room in the over sized house was going to be full of kids. Esme's eyes twinkled at the thought. She'd always wanted a big family, she said she was blessed with two kids, and that was enough for her. There was also talk about how Emmett was going to look for a job in Seattle as soon as the summer was over. He claimed he wanted one more summer to just be a kid before getting shoved into the real world. Apparently for him, college wasn't in the real world.

"Okay kids," Carlisle said dabbing his face with a napkin. "I promised your mother we would go see the ballet." Alice placed her hand over her heart. "Edward, you go back with Alice and Emmett, get to know each other." He suggested since they actually hadn't had a chance to really get acquainted. "We'll be home in the morning," he explained. Edward rolled his eyes slightly but made no move to argue with Carlisle.

"I was thinking," Alice said as soon as she climbed into the Jeep. This time she took shotgun. "We should soak in the hot tub. I could use a good soak." Emmett effortlessly helped Rosalie in the Jeep.

"Someone help her in. The last thing I want is for her to fall off and crack her head open." Emmett said shutting the driver's side.

"I'm perfectly capable of-"

"The last time you tried to get in this thing you fell backwards in a pile of rocks." Edward gave a throaty chuckle.

"You know," he said loud enough for everyone to hear. "I think we should just wrap you up in bubble wrap," he suggested making Emmett chuckle. "From the stories he tells, you're accident prone." He placed his hands on my hips and I felt electricity run through my body. Did he feel that to? No, he couldn't have felt that.

"Bubble wrap?" I questioned letting him lift me into the car. "That might look a little strange." The ride back to the house was filled with the sound of Led Zeppelin blaring through the jeep. The only thing I could think of was just how close I was sitting to Edward. I was sitting so close I could tell he smelled…metallic?

"Bella, you can borrow a bikini of mine. The rest of you meet us at the hot tube in ten. That includes you, Edward!" Alice yelled dragging me up the stairs and into her bedroom. She threw me a basic black bikini I slipped into without another word. "What do you think of Jasper?" Alice questioned suddenly. I hadn't paid much attention to Jasper, he seemed like he was the quiet one of the group.

"He seems charming," I admitted. "Why?" I raised my eyebrow.

"I have an itch." I scrunched my nose at her.

"Shouldn't you get to know him before you scratch that itch?" I knew she was talking about having sex. She hadn't slept with anyone since some guy named Brandon six months ago.

"I didn't say I was going to sleep with him tonight. Just thinking about my options." She shrugged her shoulders. "He looks like he'd be able to…please me." I chuckled at her choice of words. She wrapped herself up in a towel handing me my own. I looked at myself in the mirror, observing my stomach.

"Do you think I look fat?" It was an honest question. I didn't own a scale, but it looked like I put on a few pounds. Alice looked my up and down pursing her lips.

"No, you look hot. Share the wealth," she motioned to my breasts. "Let's go." I wrapped the towel around my body following her down the stairs. Emmett, Jasper, Edward, and Rosalie were already in the hot tube.

"So Edward," Alice said placing her towel in the pile. "What do you do for a living? Carlisle said you finished school in December." Alice got in the water sitting by Jasper. Alice had her sights set; she was going to get what she wanted sooner or later. She wanted to get laid.

"I got a business degree in school. I'm a mechanic at the moment," he explained easily. That explained the metallic smell. Somehow, he made even metallic smell edible. He was edible. I let my eyes wonder to his perfectly sculpted chest. He was muscular, but not overly muscular. He looked like something straight out of a magazine, with his abs, and that V. "See something you like?" His voice pulled me back to reality. I was staring again. My cheeks flushed scarlet. Emmett gave a loud laugh clapping his hands together.

"Maybe," I shrugged my shoulders. "More or less curious about the scar." It was complete bullshit. I wasn't staring at his scar; I just noticed the flaw in his otherwise perfect chest.

"What scar?" He shot back playing stupid. I rolled my eyes running my finger along the scar; it stretched from just below his nipple to just above his belly button.

"Oh, that," he gave a smile. "Car crash," he said nonchalantly. "It's my war wound. You guys got any war wounds?" He changed the subject. Thankfully.

"When I was seven I fell at cheer camp, and landed on a pipe," Alice pointed to the barely visible scar on her calf. "It use to be really gnarly, but I bought all these creams to make the scar fade." She explained.

"When I was sixteen I got in a dirt biking accident," Emmett lifted the shirt he was wearing. Emmett had the body of a God, but rarely showed it because of how the accident left him. His chest was scarred in every single space imaginable. Rosalie let her fingers wonder along the scars before she realized what she was doing and she tore her fingers away.

"I was eleven," Rosalie started, "and I wanted to prove to Jasper that I could hang with the boys. So, they shot an arrow into a tree and told me to get it. I got that fucking arrow, but I also fell off the tree." She turned around lifting her hair to show us her back. Emmett sucked in a breath.

"Shit," he mumbled touching her scar. "That's gnarly."

"I landed on a pine cone and something else. I cried, but I got that arrow." Rosalie smiled placing her hair back over her scar.

"I also got grounded for six months because I was suppose to be looking out for her." Jasper rolled his eyes. Jasper had many visible scars. "I, on the other hand, was actually in the army. So most of my scars are from war. This one," he pointed to the scar that stretched across his neck, "is from me being a jack ass to a girl." Emmett furrowed his eyebrows.

"What the fuck?" Edward voiced.

"This girl I was with was fucking weird. She always told me that she wanted my blood, because it called her. Bitch bit me and she like went all vampire status on me." He shook his head at the memory. "I had to get stitches. Imagine explaining that to your mother." He shuddered at the memory. Alice, and I were the only ones who found this funny, and we both erupted in a fit of giggles.

"This," I pointed to the scar that stretched up my thigh. "Is from falling off my friend – Jake's – boat. We were fucking off, and we were like fifteen, and he took me out for a joy ride in it, and we were jumping out of the boat because it was one of the rare hot days here. Only, when I jumped in, I got caught on a scrap of metal on the boat and it tore up my leg." Alice and Emmett just shook their heads.

"Any crazy ex's? Mine was like a two in one story," Jasper chuckled.

"This one guy I was with wanted me to use anal beads on him," Alice spouted off with. "He wasn't my boyfriend or anything. But after that I was like _I__'__m out.__"_

"Awe, so you wouldn't play with my asshole?" Jasper joked. Alice smiled.

"Only if you let me suck your blood." Alice joked back.

"Pleasure is all mine, Darlin'" he drawled.

"Get a room," Rosalie hollered covering her ears.

The rest of the night passed by quickly. We all stayed in the hot tub for what seemed like hours talking about random crap. We talked about where we saw ourselves in five years, and what we were studying. We talked about what it meant to be adults now, and how none of us really knew what we were doing, and how we needed to figure out our lives.

**_Alright, what do you guys think? Love it? Hate it? Want to see where I take it? Don't forget to leave a review/follow/favorite the story!(:_**


	2. Chapter 2

"You're the only one awake," Esme announced as soon as I walked into the kitchen. We all stayed up till the wee hours of the morning talking about things that we normally wouldn't talk about. We just talked about everything, with people we didn't even know. They would be crazy to be awake; I am crazy for being awake. "Coffee," she handed me a cup not bothering to ask. Esme knew me all too well, every morning I drank at least one cup of coffee.

"You make the best coffee," I murmured sipping the coffee. Esme had already poured the creamer and sugar in my coffee.

"Actually Carlisle made it. He drank a cup before hopping in the shower," she explained grabbing the eggs out of the fridge. "Would you like to help with breakfast?" As I said before, some of my best memory with Esme was in the kitchen. I used to help her cook breakfast every Sunday morning. I also worked at her diner for most of my teenage years.

"Of course," I said grabbing the pancake batter while she started the sausage and bacon. "Pancake, eggs, bacon, sausage, and hash browns?" Esme tossed me the bread. "French toast? You're mixing it up on me." Esme gave a small chuckle.

"Carlisle says it's Edward's favorite," she explained herself. We cooked in silence for the most part. It was too early for me, and Esme was well aware of that fact. She knew I didn't even like being awake before the sun was fully raised. "Alice said you're thinking of switching schools." Of course Alice would have told her. I hadn't told anyone but Alice because I wasn't sure of what I was doing.

"I just want to get out of New York." Esme shook her head.

"You always have a home here. Say the word and the guest room is your bedroom. I know Charlie would love to have you home." She mused looking over at me. "Speaking of Charlie, why haven't you been to visit him?" I took a deep breath. I knew the question was coming. Charlie's house should have been my first stop. I should have gone to see my father before seeing Alice, Esme, and Emmett.

"He's getting married. Did you know that?" I blurted out flipping the pancakes. "I found out via Facebook. I guess I'm just hurt that he didn't tell me himself. We talk once a month and he never even mentioned seeing anyone." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Charlie has always been a rather private man." She defended.

"I'll see him when he tells me he's getting married." Esme dropped the subject knowing it was pointless to continue. Once my mind was made up about something it was stuck. Everyone said I got my stubbornness from Renee.

Alice walked down the stairs in a sports bra and a pair of sweatpants. Esme eyes her suspiciously but said nothing. Alice was in the comfort of her own home, she could walk around nude if she wanted to, besides, and it's nothing the boys haven't seen before. They saw us in bikinis, which left very little to the imagination. Alice walked right into the kitchen grabbed a cup of coffee, and a piece of bacon before walking out. It wasn't a good idea to speak to her until she had her coffee. Jasper was the next one to come down the stairs wearing nothing but boxers. His shoulder length blond hair was tied back into a not so neat pony tale.

"Do you have coffee?" He still sounded half asleep. I pointed to the coffee pot.

"You take the last of it, you make more." Jasper shook his head grabbing a mug pouring him a cup. He didn't bother walking out of the kitchen; he didn't even bother putting any cream or sugar in his cup. He drank his coffee black. He followed the golden rule and made a fresh pot of coffee.

Emmett was the next one to emerge from the rooms. He walked down wearing nothing but boxers. Esme eyed him just as suspiciously as I had. He always wore a shirt, because of his scars. He walked into the kitchen as if everything was normal stole a piece of bacon, and poured a cup of coffee.

"Spit it out," he was looking at me.

"Nothing to spit out," I said shrugging my shoulders. "Except for the fact that your muscles have muscles. Like I think you can skip the nightly workouts." A big goofy grin graced Emmett's lips.

"Thanks," he ruffled my hair. "Oh, breakfast smells amazing." He walked out of the kitchen to join the others. Rosalie wondered into the kitchen wearing matching pajamas. She didn't bother with coffee.

"Do you have bottled water?" She questioned Esme.

"Of course, dear." Esme opened the fridge and handed Rosalie a bottle of Fiji water. With that Rosalie walked out of the kitchen.

Edward was the final one to emerge from the bedrooms. He walked down the stairs wearing nothing but a pair of boxers, his bronze hair was ruffled, and he still had sleepies in the corner of his eyes. He gave a grunt, and it sounded like he was attempting to say good morning. He suppressed a yawn and opened the cabinet above the coffee maker.

"Coffee mugs?" He questioned no one in particular.

"Next cupboard," Esme answered easily.

"French toast?" He noticed and his stomach gave a grumble.

"Bella cooked it." Esme said quickly flashing me a smile. "So if it's revolting you can't blame me." I gave a chuckle lightly bumping Esme's hip. "Can you tell Alice to set the table?" Edward shook his head walking into the living room without another word. We finished up breakfast bringing all the food to the dining room.

"It looks amazing," Rosalie and Jasper both said looking around the table seeing the mass amount of food.

"Mom owns a diner," Alice informed them. "She cooks a lot. Bella helps her most the time." Alice grabbed a plate, followed by Emmett, and Carlisle, then Edward and I, and finally Rosalie and Jasper. "I was thinking we could go to La Push today," Alice wiggled her eyebrows. "Introduce the city kids to something us kids do for fun." A playful smile graced Emmett's lips.

"I don't know if they're up for that crowd. Jake, Sam, Paul, Seth, Embry, Quill, they're pretty wicked." He took a bite of his pancakes letting out a small moan of appreciation. He was right about one thing, that crowd was pretty wild.

"Oh come on, if I can tough it out, so can they." I whined wanting to see them. I could hold off on seeing Seth and Leah, knowing that those were Sue's kids, but I wasn't going to let that hold me back from seeing my friends.

"Well, at any rate, Bella and I are going cliff diving." Alice shrugged her shoulders. Esme's eyes were the size of saucers when Alice said cliff diving. "Don't worry, Jake, Seth, Quill, and Embry all agreed to go first so we have a support system. Besides, we use to do it all the-" She stopped mid sentence forgetting we never told her about us cliff diving.

"Alice Marie Brandon! Isabella Marie Swan!" Esme shrieked loud enough to cause Carlisle and Edward flinch. "You two are not going cliff diving! That is like asking to hit your head on a rock!" She yelled making Alice and me shrink back in our seats.

"Mom it's really not that big of a deal. There aren't any rocks, at least not really. The tide is low, and all the La Push boys do it. We've done it before." She muttered. Emmett shook his head.

"Mom, it's like a right of passage in this town to jump off that cliff. If these three," he pointed to Jasper, Rosalie, and Edward, "don't cliff dive, they don't get accepted. It's like in the rule book or something." Alice and I shook our heads in agreement. Esme shook her head, but said nothing more on the situation. She knew it was something everyone did as a teenage, it didn't mean she liked it, or even allowed it. We finished our breakfast in silence with the occasional moan of appreciation as someone took a bite of their food.

"Okay, you have twenty minutes dress accordingly," Alice called dragging Rosalie and I from the table. "Cook never cleans. Boy's dishes," Alice snapped her fingers and pointed to the dishes. I watched Edward and Jasper exchange a look, but Emmett only got up and started clearing the dinner table. Edward and Jasper followed his lead.

"She's bossy," I heard Edward mutter more to himself than to anyone else before we left the room. We spent the full twenty minutes picking out a pair of clothes to change into after cliff diving. Alice said it was unnecessary because we weren't going to end up changing. Once we cliff dived we never actually went back to the house, we always took the boys shirts.

"Does Jake know we're bringing new meat?" Emmett questioned looking to Jasper, Rosalie, and Edward. Alice shook her head excitedly. It had been three years since I'd been to La Push, three years since I'd seen or even talked to any of the boys. We promised to all stay in touch, but in reality the only one's to stay in touch were Alice, Emmett, and I. Jake and I exchanged a few IM's Sam and I exchanged a few texts, but never anything serious.

We'd told Rosalie, Jasper, and Edward, the boys could get crude. We explained that there was going to be a lot of catching up after the cliff diving, and odds are there would end up being a bonfire. It's not like we ever really planned bonfires, they always sort of happened. With everyone back together, there was bound to be a bonfire tonight.

"Bells!" Sam hollered walking up to the group. Sam was about the size of Emmett, in fact, once we measured them. Emmett was two inches bigger, and three inches taller. Sam gathered me into a bear hug much like Emmett had, except with his bear hug he still gave me room to breath. "Ali," he gathered Alice in the same bear hug. "You girls got smoking. Don't tell Em I said that, she'll fucking slaughter me." Emmett let out a loud laugh giving him a fist bump.

"Fresh meat!" Jake yelled announcing our arrival. "It's going to be a fun day, boy's." Jake walked over to us. Jake was the only one of the bunch that really changed. His once long black hair was all chopped off, he seemed to have grown an entire foot, and he got more muscular. Jake hung his arm around my shoulder. "Walk with me." Alice gave a chuckle. "Introductions are to be made once everyone jumps." We followed Jake up the hill through the trees.

Halfway up the hill Jake removed his arm taking the lead. The trail got to thin for us to walk side by side anymore. The cold breeze gave me Goosebumps, and I could feel the grass against my jeans. This was the feeling I missed. The feeling of freedom, the anxiety that welled up inside you as you neared the ocean. Jake held back a tree branch in order for us all to pass by without needing to duck under it.

"Break down," Alice said motioning to me.

"Boys go first, girls go last. That can be mixed up if the new meat want to go last. There has to be at least two men at the bottom incase anyone hits their head. Sam, Jake, Quill," I said as they shed their tops. They jumped without a second thought, Jake let out a loud yell. I couldn't make out what he said, but it sounded like he was yelling 'freedom.' Seth and Paul followed the three men jumping after shedding their tops. Emily put her hands up in defeat.

"I don't jump. I get away with it because I can't swim," she announced slowly backing away from the group. Alice and I looked to one another, and then we looked at the boys.

"Jasper, Edward," Emmett shed his first top; leaving on the wife beater he wore underneath. "You two dive in next," he yelled jumping off the cliff letting out a loud scream of pure joy followed by the sound of his splash. Jasper and Edward shed their tops at the same time getting a running start before flinging themselves from the cliff. The look on Edward's face was somewhere between fear and excitement. It didn't look like he had a hard time flinging himself from the cliff, it looked as if he had been waiting since the arrival to so that. There was something in his expression that made me wonder what he was thinking about. I know when I jumped my only thoughts were of finally being free, finally letting go and not thinking about anyone but myself. What was he thinking about?

"Who is taking their stuff down?" Rosalie tore me away from my thoughts.

"That would be me," Katie announced coming out of nowhere. "Quill gave me an out. I hate jumping off this damn cliff. The water is way to cold." She grabbed the articles of clothing. Rosalie stared at her feet for a moment before letting out a loud sigh.

"You ready?" Alice and I asked her at the same time. She shook her head, and Alice grabbed both of our hands. "On three," she declared intertwining our fingers. "One. Two. Three." We all let go and ran for the cliff throwing our self off. The cold air was blowing in my face letting me see nothing in front of me. My heart was racing, and I felt alive. I felt like nothing could bring me down, like I was invincible, like I had a purpose. I felt like I did when I first jumped off this damn cliff. I was emerged in water five seconds later chills rippling through my body as I hit my head against the rock.

"Shit!" I head someone yell.

"Get her out now!" Alice shrieked.

"Fuck!" Emmett yelled. I couldn't feel my body; the only thing I could feel was the weight of the water crushing me down further, and further away. I felt someone's arm lace around my waist as I was pulled up from the water.

"She hit her head." It was Edward's velvet voice that informed them. "She's bleeding, but she isn't unconscious." He pulled me from the water laying me on the beach running his finger along my head.

"I'm fine." I sat up making Edward purse his lips.

"You're not fine. Like I said, I'm going to wrap you up in bubble wrap," he said shaking his head grabbing a tee shirt and pressing it to my head. "No more cliff diving for you until you learn to avoid the rocks." He moved my hand to the tee shirt. "Keep that there."

"We need to have Carlisle check her out. She hit her head and those rocks are covered in moss," Alice was the one that was speaking.

"She's alert, she's moving, and she's being stubborn. She's fine. We'll have Carlisle check her out tonight, but there's really no reason to get worked up since she didn't lose consciousness, and she isn't vomiting. Obviously we'll keep an eye on her, no sleeping for 24 hours, if she starts puking she's going straight to Carlisle. Other than that, she'll get checked in the morning." He said calmly walking over to us. Rosalie grabbed the first shirt she found pulling it over herself. Alice grabbed a shirt, and Edward handed me one. "That's my favorite shirt. I want it back," he said helping me to my feet.

"She has a name," I announced rubbing the back of my hand seeing the red that covered my hands. Edward rolled his emerald eyes placing the tee shirt to my head. "Bossy," I mumbled knowing he was about to yell at me for moving it in the first place. Jake just shook his head before a smile crossed his face.

"You're always hurting yourself." I nudged him lightly, but didn't argue. He was right. "Alright, Emily is being her usual Goddess like self, and she's making enough food to feed an army. We'll eat, catch up, and maybe get to know each other." I noticed Jake eyed Rosalie when he said that last part. "Single?" He mouthed to me.

"Ask her yourself," I whispered back at him. He only shook his head making me furrow my eyebrows. If it was one thing you could normally count on from Jake, it's him being his usual flirty self. Thinking about it now, he hadn't hit on Alice or I since we arrived. Something was up.

"Emily probably has bandage for your head," Sam said chuckling to himself. "That wife beater looks brown." He turned his nose up in disgust.

"The troubled life of a mechanic. White never stays white," Edward shook his head as if he was really upset about it. "That shirt was ruined way before she decided to bleed all over it."

"In all fairness, she didn't ask for the shirt," Alice linked her arm through mine. "You gave put it over her little boo-boo before she could refuse." Alice peaked under the tee shirt. She winced slightly. "We're going to have to wash your hair before we leave the house. You stopped bleeding, I think." I removed the tee shirt. Edward came over glancing at my sculp.

"That is trash," he pointed to the brownish, whitish wife beater. We walked into Emily and Sam's house making our way into the living room. Emily was in the kitchen cooking away.

"Hey," I said making them all stop. "Don't stare at Emily. It pisses off Sam," I gave them a fair warning. I knew they would all end up staring, but maybe with the warning it wouldn't be a bad stare. We walked into the kitchen; Emily's back was facing us. Sam wrapped his arm around her waist showering her left cheek with kisses before he turned her around to kiss her on the lips.

"Bella," Emily cooed walking out of Sam's embrace and into my arms.

Rosalie, Jasper, and Edward were definitely staring at Emily. She was an attractive woman, she had short shoulder length black hair, a rather skinny figure, and she had the perfect olive toned skin. They weren't staring at her because she was undeniably pretty; they were staring because the left side of her face was covered in a mass amount of scars. It looked as if a rabid animal attacked her. Emily shifted uncomfortably, gave Alice and Emmett a hug before she turned around focusing on the food she was cooking. Sam cleared his throat.

"Oh yes," Emily soothingly ran her hand on his chest. "You're staying for dinner. All of you," she added glancing back. "We're sitting by a campfire. No bonfire tonight, Sam, Jake, Seth, Leah, and Paul all have to be up bright eyed and bushy tailed in the morning." Alice gave her a look of confusion. "Sue is throwing the beginning of summer morning bash, and we're all being forced to go since it's the youngsters last years," she motioned to the twins, Cody, and Claire.

"Boy's there's beer in the fridge. Who is your designated driver?" Emily questioned turning around eyeing us all.

"That would be me," Jasper stepped in. "I don't drink often." Emily looked him up and down before she seemed satisfied. She wouldn't let anyone leave the Reservation if they had so much as a beer to drink.

"There are juice boxes, water, soda, and tea in the fridge. Help yourself. I suggest you leave the apple juice alone. Sam is weird about people drinking it," she shrugged her shoulders. Emmett walked over to the fridge grabbing two beers tossing Edward one. Alice followed him grabbing two Mike's Hard Lemonades' tossing one to me. "And," Emily pointed to the bloody tee shirt. "Get that blood off your head. It's going to bother me. Honestly, cliff diving isn't such a great idea for you. You're going to kill yourself." Emily shook her head with a small smile.

"I'm telling you, we just need to wrap you up in bubble wrap." Edward teased making Emily give a chuckle.

"Sam quick make a trip to the store!" Emily joked. Alice towed me into the bathroom running her fingers through the water in the sink, before she worked her fingers through my hair. The feeling of her delicate fingers scraping against my skull stung, but the pain was tolerable. Ten minutes later, Alice shrugged her shoulders turning off the water.

"Let's go eat, before the boy's eat all the food." We walked from the bathroom and into the living room. Emily was pulling something out of the oven and set it on the counter underneath a potholder. Jake was the first to grab a plate.

"Jacob Black!" She yelled smacking his hand away from the food. "Where are your manners? Ladies first, jackass." She shoved him backwards handing Alice and I our plates. Emily knew the way these boys ate, and if we didn't get our food first, there wouldn't be any food left by the time we got there. Still, it never fails; one of the eager boys tries to take first dibs. As soon as we got our food, the boys started piling the food on their plates.

Emily, Rosalie, Alice, and I walked outside of the unbelievably hot house, making our way to the lawn chairs, sitting in front of the fire pit. It wasn't lit yet, but we all knew that Sam liked lighting the fire, so we took a seat in the chairs nibbling on our food in silence. I noticed Rosalie's eyes would wonder away from her plate and to Emily's face every so often, until the boys noisily made their way to us. Jake had a muffin stuffed in his mouth, Sam had a beer under his chin, Paul had a twelve case of beer in one hand, and his food in the other, Jasper had a brownie in his mouth looking like he was in heaven, and Edward was chugging a beer as if he was a fish drawn to the water. Alice and I shared a look before we erupted in a fit of giggles.

"Where's Veronica?" Emily questioned looking directly at Jake.

"She's home." He shrugged his shoulders. Emily only cocked an eyebrow. "She said I needed to catch up with my friends, and that if she were here we'd just be sucking face and dry humping the entire time." My mouth slightly dropped and Sam smacked him in the chest so hard I was sure it was going to leave a mark. "Ouch, what was that for?" Jake plopped down next to Emily rubbing his chest.

"Dude, that's my _baby_ cousin." Sam rolled his eyes spraying lighter fluid on the logs before tossing a match in the fire pit.

"Who is Veronica?" Alice asked before I could.

"Our little Jake finally got himself a girlfriend." Paul mocked; he made his eyes swell as if he were about to cry. "She moved into town two years ago, and being Sam's cousin she was always fucking here. Jake grew an attachment, and he stuck to it. Can you believe it? He was part of my fuck 'em and run program and he went soft! Paul complained sitting next to me. Jasper glanced at Paul but said nothing. "Bella, I'm telling you he went soft! Like I don't even think he's flirted with another girl." He shuddered slightly at the thought.

"You're still doing that high school shit?" Alice popped off taking a bite of her mashed potatoes. "I thought you would have grown out of that fuck 'em and run thing by now." Paul made a face and shook his head.

"Being tied down to one person for the rest of your life seems a bit unrealistic. I mean look at the fucked up relationships in Forks alone. Everyone who is married is either cheating, or has an open marriage. Besides being with one girl for the rest of your life sounds boring as hell." Alice rolled her eyes. She never had agreed with Paul's lookout on life. Then again, Alice was a hopeless romantic, and thought one day she would look across the room, lock eyes with someone, and slowly everyone else would fade away. To me it sounds ridiculous, but I didn't share Paul's lookout on love, because his lookout was rather excessive.

"You've never agreed with me, Pixie." Alice glared at him.

"I still don't agree with you." Paul rolled his eyes.

"We've had this debate and we can have it again." Alice let out a huff.

"You two have this debate every time you see each other. Neither of your view points ever changes." I said making Alice glance over at me. I was right, they had this agreement at least once a week in high school. Paul said it was stupid to think that there is a soul mate for everyone, and Alice said it was stupid to act like there wasn't someone out there who was made for you. Esme finding Carlisle just made her believe in the notion of a soul mate even more.

"You're not even going to back me up here?" Alice whined. "I cannot be the only one here who believes in soul mates."

"They exist," Jake confirmed. "If they didn't I wouldn't have found Vanessa, and Sam wouldn't have found Emily. Yall just haven't found your soul mates yet." Sam and Emily shook their heads in agreement. Paul faked a gagging noise, and I rolled my eyes. As strange as it may sound, I was with Paul. Maybe not to the extent of fuck 'em and run, but I didn't really believe soul mates existed.

"Come on, Bella. Back me up," She leaned over Edward to shake my arm.

"You're a hopeless romantic," I announced. "I'm a realist, therefore, I cannot be a hopeless romantic." Alice furrowed her eyebrows together in confusion. I let out an exasperated sigh. "Hopeless romantics and realists have a different view on things. For example, hopeless romantics think that they will look at some stranger across the room and melt. They think they will see the man they are going to marry and instantly know that's him. Realists see things the way they really are. You cannot look across the room, see someone, and know you will in fact marry them. It's delusional. Realists see things the way they are. Love does exist. You can love someone with every ounce of your being, but you have to remember that love changes. The person you love today could be a person you hate in five years. Time changes everyone." I explained rather simply. Alice thought this over for a moment and pursed her lips.

"Well, people might change, but they can change together." She declared.

"If you work at it," I offered.

"Just don't join the fuck 'em and run club and we'll be good." I gave a loud laugh.

"Wouldn't dream of joining that club. I'm not an extremist."

**_So, what do you think? Reviews are appriciated. Also, if you review you get a teaser for next weeks chapter(:_**

**_Updates will be twice a week, on Saturday and Sunday. _**


	3. Chapter 3

"Girls," Esme's soft voice filled the room. The voice was accompanied by a light shove making Alice and I both give groans. "It's almost three in the afternoon." Alice groaned putting her pillow over her head in a useless attempt to block the noise. It sounded like everyone else was already awake. There was booming laughter, and I could vaguely hear Rosalie talking. "We're going to dinner in Seattle, you sleeping beauty's need to wake up."

"Five more minutes," Alice croaked out. Esme gave an audible sound running her fingers along my back.

"If you two don't wake up I'm going to take Carlisle's suggestion and have the boys wake you up." I stiffened and slowly sat up, my attempts of trying to go back to sleep demolished. Emmett had woken me up once; I didn't want to relive that experience. Esme gave a soft chuckle.

"I just wanted to sleep." Alice sat up right and looked over to my erupting in a fit of giggles. "You're hair looks like a birds nest," she boomed falling back over on the bed holding her stomach. I felt my head feeling the knots in my hair. Esme shook her head and removed herself from the room, knowing Alice and I needed to get ready. "Sex dream?" She said between giggles. I tried to look back on my dream, but remembered nothing. Besides, I'd never had a sex dream before, why would I have one now? I got out of the bed and looked in the mirror giving a groan.

"Alice, I need help," I shrieked looking at my hair. "I don't have time to shower, and I cannot fix this." She sat up in the bed walking over to me looking at my hair.

"Go in the bathroom. Get the hairbrush, hairspray, the curling iron, and the gel stuff." She instructed as I left the room. "Get a comb to!" She shouted making me look back. I'd expected everyone to be downstairs, waiting on us.

It was three in the afternoon, and while we didn't make it home till two in the morning, Alice and I stayed up talking until we saw the sun peaking through her curtains. That was one thing I truly missed, talking with Alice till the wee hours of the morning about random stuff. We talked about boys, about college, and about sex. We talked about how neither of us had gotten laid in what felt like forever, and how we were both dying. Girls have needs just like guys do.

"Emmett!" I heard Edward's voice. "Dude, you got shaving cream? I left mine in my apartment," he called turning the corner and running into me. His wet chest smacked into me, and his arms circled around my waist to keep me from falling backwards. We stood there for moments shocked into silence. He looked like he was trying not to laugh at my hair. He forgot about the towel that had been wrapped around his, naked, wet body. When his hands flew up to my waist, the towel had dropped exposing him. I turned cherry red seeing his…dick… spring free.

"What is up with your-"

"Your towel," I muttered leaning down to pick up the brown towel. I could feel my cheeks get hotter and hotter with each passing second. He looked down, gave a sheepish smile, and then wrapped himself back up.

"What the hell did you do to Bella?" Emmett questioned handing Edward the shaving cream. "I've never seen her so… red. Trust me, I've made her blush many times before, but never like _that.__"_Edward shrugged his shoulders, grabbing the shaving cream without breaking eye contact.

"I need the brush," I mumbled walking past him and into the bathroom. Edward had a nice body, one of the nicest I've ever seen. He had nothing to be ashamed of, but seeing him like that, made something wake up inside me that hadn't been woken before. I _wanted_ him. I wanted him to touch me, I wanted him to kiss me, and I wanted him to take me into his bedroom so we could to nasty things. I quickly grabbed the things Alice asked me to, and booked it back to her bedroom shutting the door behind me. Alice looked me over, and pursed her lips.

"What did Emmett do this time?" She assumed Emmett was the one that had gotten my panties in a bunch. I just shook my head fanning my cheeks to cool them down. I had seen a fair share of men naked. I was in a co-ed dorm in NYU. I'd seen many men walk around unashamed and proud none of them ever did _this_ to me. "Use your words Bella," Alice led me to the chair in front of her mirror.

"I ran into Edward," Alice cocked her eyebrow. "He just got out of the shower, and his towel dropped." Alice's eyes went wide. "Alice, he has got the best body I have ever seen." She pressed her lips together.

"Is he…_hung_?" I swear to God, my mouth hit the floor. She'd never directly asked me about anyone's penis size! "Oh come on, it's not weird."

"He's your brother!" I harshly whispered as if everyone else could hear our conversation.

"He's my step brother, and I don't even know him. It's not weird. What do you think though? Could he please you in all the right places like we were talking about last night?" I was flaming red once again. Sure, Alice and I talked about sex all the time. We talked about things we liked, our kinks, and things we found completely bazar. We talked about who we wished we could fuck, and about out crushes. However, we didn't normally talk about someone we were spending the entire summer with.

"Alice!" I hissed. She rolled her eyes.

"I've got my eyes on Jasper. Emmett's probably got his eyes on Rosalie. That leaves you and Edward. We're twenty two years old, we are aloud to shag whoever we want, no commitments necessary. We're young, Bella. Besides, we're here for three months and I fully intend on getting some action. I have needs, and I cannot meet those needs on my own! Now spill." I debated if I should talk or not. My decision was made up when Alice

"Alice I've only ever been with two people!" She knew I wasn't the type to sleep around.

"Bella is he like this," she wiggled her pinky. "Compare woman!" She gave a chuckle when I shook my head no. "I saw James' dick, is he bigger than that?" Alice was referring to the time she walked in on James' and I in high school. We were in my bedroom, and one thing led to another. Next thing I knew, he was asking for a blowjob, and I complied. Alice walked in, saw what was going on, let out a loud shriek and slammed my bedroom door.

"Yes," I whispered making Alice give an approving nod. "He's…he's…he's…" I stuttered out trying to find the right words. "You've seen porn," Alice let out a loud laugh. Alice had admitted to watching porn a few times. She claimed it was all for educational purposes in order to get to know how to do certain things. "He's like that. Big," I explained making Alice raise her eyebrows.

"Obviously, you think he's attractive," she said finishing my hair. "You're like a hundred different shades of red. Don't even think about lying to me." Alice walked over to her closet pulling things out left and right. "Mom! How fancy is dinner?" Alice yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Dress!" She yelled back giving Alice her answer.

"Thank you!" Alice pulled out three dress options, and I knew immediately that they were for me. They were all relatively short, and all looked like they would show mass amounts of cleavage. "Personally, I think you should go with the red one. It's not as low cut as the others, and it's open back, so your back dimples will show. It stops right here," she put her fingers about four inches from my waist. "Be bold," she winked at me.

"I have no shoes to match." Alice just rolled her eyes and shoved me into the bathroom with the dress in my hands.

"Just put the damn dress on." I glanced in the mirror seeing that Alice had opted for putting my hair up.

She put it in a fancy bun that I would never be able to do on my own, and a few loose strands fell down my face to frame it. How Alice did these hairstyles was beyond me. I slipped into the dress knowing it was better if I didn't argue. I was too chicken to look in the mirror before I stepped out. Alice had finished her hair, and her make up by the time I was out. Alice can either take hours to get ready, or seconds.

"Turn," she motioned her finger. "Perfect," she clapped her hands together, and linked her arm through mine. "Rosalie," Alice sang as we descended the stairs. "Do you have red heels?" Rosalie got up without a word and walked up to the guest room. Seconds later she came down carrying a par of red heels. They weren't stilettos, but they also weren't small heels. Even so, I knew better than to argue, and I slipped the shoes on without another word.

"You kids are riding with Emmett, I'm riding with Carlisle. I already told Emmett where we were going. We will meet you there. You look very nice," Esme kissed the top of Alice's head before she walked from the house. Edward walked down the stairs his bronze hair still damp from his shower, and he was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans, a white button down shirt, and a black tie. When looking at him only one thing come to mind, sexy. Edward Cullen was oozing with sex.

"Let's go," Emmett said nodding for the door. "If we're late Esme is going to have our heads on a silver platter." He wasn't joking. Esme wanted us to all have a sit down dinner nice sit down dinner in Seattle at least once a week starting today.

She doesn't expect us to spend an entire three months at home, and only be with her and Carlisle. She expected us to go out, and be kids. She expected us to stay in Seattle, and go clubbing, or to stay in the beach house just to get away like we use to do when we were kids. Dinner, once a week in Seattle was mandatory. She made it very clear to Emmett she wanted to get to know his friends, so they were always welcome, but not forced to come. I, however, was forced to go because Esme said I was her second daughter and there was no way in hell I was going to get out of family dinners.

"Alice," Emmett effortlessly lifted Alice into the jeep. "Rosalie," he mimicked the motion with Rosalie. When he lifted Rosalie it was a lot touchier than it was with Alice. He trailed his hands down her sides, resting easily just above her hip as he slowly lifted her up, making sure that her body dragged against his. Alice was right, Emmett had his sights set on Rosalie.

"Bella," Edward whispered low enough so only I could hear. His hands trailed down my side leaving Goosebumps in their place, as he grabbed my hips lifting me into the car. His nose trailed against my bare back as he lifted me up. By the time I was actually in the jeep my body was tingling.

Emmett backed out of the driveway blaring the music right from the start. Emmett hated making small talk in the car unless he was alone with somebody. He claimed he would rather listen to music than talk. Alice and I were different from him in that aspect. We would take drives just to talk. We would drive for hours going nowhere, and talk about everything. We did this mainly because in a car, there wasn't a chance of people overhearing you talk unless they were in the car with you. The four-hour car ride to Seattle was filled with the loud rock music, and occasional knees bumping with Edward. It was torturous to be so close to him and not be able to touch him. I wanted to run my fingers through his already messy hair, and trail kisses down his jaw, and I wanted him to…

"Here we are," Alice said once the car finally stopped. She opened the car door jumping out giving stretch, a moan like sound escaping her lips.

"I don't remember this restaurant." I slowly dropped out of the jeep inspecting the outside of the restaurant. It was fancier than I thought it would have been, and the outside made it look like we were dinning somewhere outrageously expensive.

"It's new." Alice shrugged her shoulders leading us to the podium where the hostess was standing. Inside was even nicer than the outside. There was low lighting, and candles lay out on every table. Everyone was dressed up in their best attire, and they all looked to be having some sort of stimulating conversation. I shared a glance with Alice. I'm not sure we were even mature enough to be in a place like this, we have conversations; none of them are appropriate for a place like this.

"Welcome to Eclipse, do you have a reservation?" The woman asked without bothering to look up from what she was doing.

"It's under Cullen," Alice was the one to speak. The hostess looked up from whatever she was doing, her eyes stopping on Edward.

"Yes, of course. Right this way, sir." Alice rolled her eyes and followed the woman up a flight of stairs. "Have you ever been to this restaurant?" She was making small talk with Edward, batting her eyelashes every chance she got.

"I can't say I have," he said paying no attention to her.

"Well, if you need any suggestions about the menu, just let me know." She moved her hand up his arm while she said this. "Your waiter will be with you in a moment." She turned to walk away from us as soon as we made it to the booth where Carlisle and Esme were sitting waiting for us patently.

"This is fancier than I expected," Alice announced sliding into the booth sitting next to Esme. Jasper slid in after her, followed by me, then Edward, Emmett and Rosalie sat next to Carlisle. Alice and I weren't expecting a dinner in Seattle to be this fancy. Mostly because when we use to eat out in Seattle, we always went to the local diner, where nothing was more than eight dollars. Esme gave a small smile motioning to Carlisle.

"He wanted to take us all out for a nice set down dinner." She explained with a twinkle in her eyes. He was treating Esme like the princess she deserved to be treated as. "How are all the boys anyways? You didn't get home till late," she noted. Esme wasn't a big fan of the boys in La Push. She didn't think they were raised with the intentions a man should be raised with. She'd heard about the fuck 'em and run club, and assumed most of them were just looking for someone easy. She use to hate it when we brought them over, but never said anything because she allowed us to live our life. Charlie never heard about their little club they had once upon a time. It looks like Paul is the only one in that club now anyways.

"Jake's got a girlfriend," Alice told Esme. "Her name is Veronica. He said we could meet her the next time we all hang out. The look on Esme's face was pure shock. No one expected Jake to ever have an actual girlfriend. "I think Sam and Emily are engaged. I saw a ring on her finger." It surprised me that Alice hadn't asked about that. Normally that would have been the first question to fly out of her mouth.

"Speaking of Emily," Rosalie said while looking over the menu. "What happened to her?" Rosalie finally asked the question she had avoided last night. Thank God she'd avoided it, Sam would have gotten upset, the way he always did when someone asked about her scars. Alice looked to me letting me know this was all me. She always asked me to explain what happened because I knew Emily before the accident, I was there when it happened, and I stuck around after. Most people met her after the accident and didn't know exactly what happened.

"She got into a car accident when she was a teenager." I said looking over the menu for myself. Rosalie raised her eyebrows.

"So did I. It didn't leave me like _that._" I shrugged my shoulders.

"She got into the car with someone who was drunk. He ran a red light, and a truck slammed into his car. Emily wasn't wearing a seat belt and slammed into her window." Rosalie waited for me to continue. "They couldn't focus on her face because there was too much damage, if they would have focused on that, she would have died. They went back once she was stable, but the cuts were too deep, there wasn't anything they could do. They offered to do a skin graft, but Emily didn't want anything to do with it."

"Why not? If my face was left like that I would have told them to fix it no matter what." I shrugged my shoulders.

"She considered it. She just decided not to go through with it."

"Who was driving?"

"Sam."

"She's still with him?" It blew my mind to think most people thought Emily should have left him. Yes, Sam was drunk but Emily willingly got into the car with him. No one forced her inside that car.

"She went with him willingly. She's at fault just like him. Accidents happen." Rosalie dropped the subject.

"Rose, not all people are obsessed over their looks." Jasper rolled his eyes at his sister. I could tell from the moment I saw Rosalie she was vain, but hell, if I looked like Rosalie did I would probably be vain as well. "She bears the scar as a reminder. It makes perfect sense." At least someone understood her thinking.

"Can I get you started off with some drinks tonight?" The waitress came over ending the conversation. Carlisle started off with two glasses of red wine for him and Esme, Emmett followed with a Bud Light, Rosalie got a glass of lemon water, Alice ordered a Long Island Iced Tea, Jasper stuck with sprite, Edward ordered a glass of red wine just as Carlisle had, and I ordered a margarita.

"Alice, Esme tells me you're an art major?" Carlisle spoke clearly putting his menu in the center of the table.

"Yeah. I'm an art and fashion major. I love them both so decided to study them both." Carlisle shook his head sipping on his drink. Alice looked over at him. "Esme tells me you were married before." She was taking this as an opportunity to get to know Carlisle.

"I don't think this is an appropriate dinner conversation." Esme said glancing over to Alice silently asking what she was thinking.

"Alice can ask me whatever she wants," Carlisle defended her. "I was got married before I graduated high school. I got Edward's mother, Elizabeth, pregnant. She was 16, I was 18 and in that time a baby out of wedlock was something parents disowned you for. I manned up, asked her to be my wife. I got into a premed program, and my parents told me to pursue my dreams, and that they would help out with whatever they could. Elizabeth had Edward when she was seventeen, she was finishing high school and I was in Medical school. We had a small apartment a block away from my parents; if it weren't for them I have no clue where I would be. Elizabeth and I weren't right for each other; we were constantly fighting, and rarely agreed on anything. I found her cheating five years later. We talked it out and decided we couldn't raise a baby in a toxic environment." Alice shook her head in understanding.

"So, how old are you?"

"I'm 46." Alice shook her head.

"I think I want some pie for dessert. Bella, will you eat some of it for me so I'm not cheating?" I cocked an eyebrow at her. "I'm on a diet. If you eat half _technically _I'm not cheating." I gave a chuckle and shook my head.

"Only if I get the crust. It's the best part." Alice stuck her hand out so we could shake on it.

The pie was the best part of the night, aside from the occasional knee bumping, or arms touching with Edward. The slightest touch sent electricity through my entire body, and when the hairs on his arms started standing up I knew I wasn't alone. He must have felt the spark too, right? Then again it could just be because it's a bit nippy in this restaurant. I couldn't help but think I was just being delusional. What would a guy like him want with a girl like me? He could have had any girl in this city, what would make him choose a plain Jane like me?

"Can I get you anything else?" The waitress questioned shamelessly flirting with Edward. She was the obvious kind of pretty, blond hair and big boobs. Edward noticed this one, and he flirted right back.

"Well, let me see here," he looked over the menu before looking back at her. "Do you recommend anything else?" She batted her eyelashes giving him big doe eyes. Carlisle cleared his throat making the waitress look over to him.

"Just the check, please." The waitress shook her head before she scurried off. Alice looked to me, then to Rosalie and we all erupted in a fit of giggles. We were all laughing so loud people in the restaurant started staring.

"Can I get you _anything _else?" Alice mocked batting her eyelashes wildly.

"How about my number?" Rosalie was the next one in line. Edward gave a short chuckle. "Oh please, let me give you my number." This time it was Emmett's turn to laugh.

"Ten bucks says she slides you a napkin with her number and a heart on a napkin." I nudged his shoulder. We all fell silent as she came back handing the check directly to Carlisle. Carlisle opened the bill raising his eyebrow slightly before slipping his credit card inside and silently handing her back the bill.

"Not a napkin, but you were pretty close," Carlisle handed Edward the paper with her number on it. I snatched it out of his fingers.

"_Call me anytime, baby. We could have some fun together.__"_I read the note out loud making Alice chuckle. Edward rolled his eyes taking the paper from my fingers and shoving it in his pocket. The spark was one sided.

"Please tell me you are not going to use that," Alice groaned.

"Why not?" Alice set her head down on the table.

"It's classless. Excuse my language, parents," she motioned to Carlisle and Esme. "Don't fuck a girl who is basically handing herself over. Besides, that's Jessica. She's probably crawling with STD's." I took a look back at the waitress.

"That's Jessica?" I questioned shocked. She didn't look anything like the buck toothed; fizzy haired girl Alice and I went to school with. Apparently Alice and I weren't the only ones to change after high school.

"You can tell from her annoying little voice." Alice rolled her eyes as she came back. "She's also clingy as hell, so if you fuck her she'll think you're dating. She's got the crazy eyes going on." Jessica came back handing the bill to Carlisle making flirty eyes at Edward before leaving.

"You five can stay at the apartment I have here," Carlisle handed Edward the keys. "It's a rather small place, three bedrooms so someone is going to have to take the living room." Alice eyed Carlisle. Since when is three bedrooms small?

"Why do you have an apartment in Seattle?" She questioned immediately.

"It's just a place I have in case we're out on the town later than we plan on being." He shrugged his shoulder intertwining his fingers with Esme. "Occasionally we like to act like teenagers." Alice glanced from Esme to him believing the story and shrugging her shoulders. "Edward knows where it's at. Your mother and I need to get back into Forks. I've got work in the morning and I'm sure she wants to check in on the diner." Carlisle explained walking to the car.

It was ten by the time we would have gotten back to Forks it would have been two. We decided to take Carlisle up on his offer of us staying in him small Seattle apartment.

"I'm going to bunk with Jasper tonight if everything goes as planned," Alice whispered in my ear. "So dibs on one of the bedrooms."

**_I know, I said I would update every Friday and Saturday. I was busy for the holiday this Friday, and didn't have the time to update. Let me know what you think(:_**


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